Surprise or joke toy.



s. PRAWAT.

SURPRISE 0R JOKE TOY.

APPLICATION FILED 05c. 24. 1917.

-1,265,379.. Patented May 7,1918.

52222233 Pra wa Z orrron.

SURPRISE 0R JOKE TOY.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STANLEY PRAWAT, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Bend, in the county of St. Joseph and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surprise or Joke Toys, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a pyrotechnical device more especially adapted for use as a toy, and preferably consists of a form resembling an envelop or mailing wrapper, though not intended for sending through the mails in violation of the postal laws.

The object of the invention is to provide an explosive device harmless in nature, which in outward appearance resembles an envelop in which written communications are commonly delivered, and which, when an attempt is made to open the envelop in accordance with instructions thereon, will explode much the same as a fire cracker, and by such explosion serve to surprise and startle the person attempting to open the envelop.

The invention in the preferred form of details will be described in the following specification, reference being had particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a similar view before final sealing of the envelop.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a mat in closed within the envelop.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the mat taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a similar fragmentary view on an exaggerated scale.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates an envelop of the form commonly used for the delivery of sealed communications, the body portion or rear side 2 of which is provided with a tear-out portion 3, formed by a circular series of perforations 4, and a slit or opening 5 in the tear-out portion. The sealing flap 6 is provided with a like tear-out portion 7 formed by a series of circularly arranged perforations 8, and having a slit or opening 9 therein, the respective tear-out portions and the openings therein registering when the flap is in sealing position, as shown in Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 24, 1917.

Patented May 7, 1918.

Serial No. 208,677.

Insertible within the envelop is what I term a mat 10, consisting of a tray-like member 11, provided with a false bottom 12, spaced from the bottom 18 of the tray to form a compartment 14, which is partially filled with a quantity of explosive powder 15, and a packing 16 of suitable material, such as shredded paper, cotton or the like, to hold the powder compact and against shifting from its proper place. Adhesively applied upon the false bottom 12 is a disk 17 of wood or other suitable material, having a dimension somewhat greater than a circular opening in the false bottom which the disk covers, and which disk is provided with a central aperture 18. Suitably secured to the bottom side of the disk are spaced metal strips 19, having proximate serrated edges, between which extend a stub match 20, the combustible head 21 of which is disposed beneath the metal strips, and the stem 22 of which extends through the aperture in the disk, and which stem and combustible head are enveloped by the explosive powden' Secured to the match stem is a hand grip 23, which is passed through the openings in the tear-out portions 3 and 7 of the envelop, so as to be accessible when the same is sealed, as shown in Fig. 1. i

It will be obvious from the foregoing, and following directions appearing on the envelop to open the same, that a pull on the hand grip will cause the match head to become ignited by friction due to contact with the serrated edges of the metal strips, and

thus ignite the powder and produce an explosion. The envelop and the mat are intended to be made of paper, but may be treated with any suitable substance so as to be slow burning, in order to minimize the danger of handling the same. The upper part of the tray may also be provided with a sheet of asbestos 24, or other non-inflammable material, so as to protect the hands against powder burn, as it will be natural to hold down the envelop while pulling on the hand grip.

WVhile the foregoing is the preferred form of my invention, I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the pre cise structure shown and described, as it is obvious that the same may be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Whatgis claimed is y 1. A device of the class described, comprising an envelop, an explosive substance disposed Within the same, a combustible member adapted to ignite the explosive substance, a hand grip connected to said member and extending Without the envelop, and means :iforF-frictionally igniting the combustible member by a pull on the hand grip.

2. A device of the class described, comprising an envelop a combustible member arranged Within the envelop, a supporting element for said member having an apere ture therein to receive said member, abrae sivemeans carried by said element adapted to frictionally ignite the combustible memberup'on,Withdraivalthereot through said aperture, an explosive substance disposed about said combustible member, and means r W hdra i g e com u i l mem from its support;

3. A device of the class described, comprising an envelop, a mat disposed Within the envelep, an explosive substance disposed Within the mat, a combustible member adapted to ignite the explosive substance, asupporting element for the comu tible membet carr y the abrasive means carried by said element for frictionfllly igniting the combu t ble m mber upon withdrawal th re f fr m it suppor ing elemen and a h nd. grip co nected with the combu tible memb r nd ext nding thro gh th envelop,

In te timony where f a ix my ture.

PRA AT,

Co ies 6 th pa be Obtained for v cents ach by a dr ss ng the omm ssioner at P tent Washington, 1), 0. 

